The Pirates pulled off yet another comeback victory in front of yet another great crowd on Friday night, opening this weekend’s series in style with a 4-3 win over the Miami Marlins.

Kevin Correia turned in a pretty typical outing. He was hit hard early on (two runs in the first, including a Jose Reyes leadoff bomb) and it seemed like he’d be in some serious trouble, but then he recovered to keep the Bucs in the game and eventually earn a win. Correia also posted five strikeouts–his second straight start with a relatively high strikeout total. He allowed eight hits and only made it through five innings, but minimized damage enough to earn a victory.

That’s because the Pirate offense is still on fire. They only scored four runs, but when they fell behind early on, the sense in the park was that they were going to comeback. It was almost assumed, based on the optimism/confidence everyone seems to have and the way everybody has hit the ball lately. The Bucs got a run back right away in the first on a Garrett Jones RBI single, and right after the Fish extended the lead back to two in the fourth inning, the Pirates struck back again. Pedro Alvarez lifted a Ricky Nolasco curveball into the seats for a solo homer (#20), Rod Barajas followed with a laser double to left, and Clint Barmes hit a well-placed single to score Barajas, tying the game. PNC was fired up, but I don’t think anybody seemed all that surprised. The Bucs have battled back all year; they have more comeback wins than anyone in the NL (and everyone in the AL besides the Yankees).

Neil Walker continued his ridiculous surge with a blast in the fifth to put the Bucs ahead, and that was all the bullpen would need. Chris Resop tossed a scoreless inning and started the seventh, allowed a few hits, and was bailed out by Jared Hughes. Jason Grilli bounced back from a rough couple of days with a clean eighth, and Joel Hanrahan earned a dramatic save in the ninth. The Marlins had put men at the corners with one out and the top of the order up, but Joel came up big and struck out Jose Reyes and Emilio Bonifacio in dominant fashion to end the threat.

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